Re: Central questions of memetics

From: daniella (daniella@netvision.net.il)
Date: Tue May 16 2000 - 20:43:15 BST

  • Next message: Chuck Palson: "Re: Central questions of memetics"

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    Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 22:43:15 +0300
    From: daniella <daniella@netvision.net.il>
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    Subject: Re: Central questions of memetics
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    wade,

    re "cricket".
    though many have no clue of how it is played, the meme
    of "cricket" versus "non cricket", is here to stay for as long as there are
    behaviours to which it can apply.. no?

    if baseball ceases to exist tomorrow, but a different meaning gets attached to
    that bat. it can well survive on its own.
    maybe, as a representative of american culture in the twentieth century?

     lots of mythological, historical memes still around long after the objects are
    gone...
    "horse and carriage",
    "trojan horse"
    'glass slipper"
    a list of free associations.
    if baseball had never been invented - than neither would its bat - bet ye.

    daniella

    Vincent Campbell wrote:

    > cricket came first, and baseball is based on the British game 'rounders'
    > whatever the "official" history of baseball says :-)
    >
    > > ----------
    > > From: Wade T.Smith
    > > Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
    > > Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2000 1:38 am
    > > To: Memetics Discussion List
    > > Subject: Re: Central questions of memetics
    > >
    > > Chuck Palson made this comment not too long ago --
    > >
    > > >Except for one thing - they cannot
    > > >exist for long when they are no longer useful - as the second part of the
    > > >statement seems to imply.
    > >
    > > This is something we've been batting back and forth here- and let's take
    > > a look at that bat, while we have it in our hands.
    > >
    > > It is an artifact, yes, and moreover, one with a specific and particular
    > > purpose- to propel a thrown baseball in a game with the same name. (For
    > > the benefit of our anglophiles, I will give a small nod to the bat used
    > > in their peculiar variety of this game named after a loud insect.)
    > >
    > > But, the 'baseballbat'-ness of this artifact is tenuous, and culturally
    > > situated.
    > >
    > > When the bat is all alone, where is baseball?
    > >
    > > When a game gets resurrected (or begun anew) that needs a bat to play, is
    > > there a need to remember or get the old bat?
    > >
    > > Things come and go- the utility of a thing is part of the logic of its
    > > formation, but the game it plays is memetic/cultural, and _this_ is where
    > > the repetition comes in.
    > >
    > > But can a meme exist- can that baseballbat exist- without the game it's
    > > used for?
    > >
    > > Good question. And I ain't sure.
    > >
    > > - Wade
    > >
    > > ===============================================================
    > > This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
    > > Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
    > > For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
    > > see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
    > >
    >
    > ===============================================================
    > This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
    > Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
    > For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
    > see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit

    ===============================================================
    This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
    Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
    For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
    see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit



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